24x7 e-corners a major draw in city

The self-service kiosk with uninterrupted broadband connectivity offers 20 services including passbook update, NEFT and bill payments through gateway.

An SBI official explaining to an elderly customer the features of e-corner at MVP Colony in Visakhapatnam on Friday. Photo: K.R. Deepak

Any banking service without slogging it out at a counter is now a reality. Catching up with the need for gen-x banking, SBI has started its first e-corner in the city at MVP Colony. Its success led to recent opening of another e-corner at its main branch near the Jail Road. Andhra Bank which named its new generation branch as Navshakti opened it at Akkayyapalem on Thursday, it already has one successfully running for more than a couple of months at Seetammadhara branch.

“The response to the 24x7 e-corners is quite encouraging. Any transaction you name be it transfer of funds or bill payment is done in a comfy climate,” SBI Assistant General Manager K. Lakshmi told The Hindu .

The self-service kiosk with uninterrupted broadband connectivity offers 20 functions, including passbook update, NEFT and bill payments through gateway.

Helpline

The e-corner near Jail Road has three ATMs, cash deposit machine, cheque box and dedicated telephone connecting Helpline like a hotline. The cash deposit machine can accept amounts up to Rs. 49,900 in the multiple of Rs.100, Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 denominations.

For visually challenged, there is a machine where through head phone, one could operate the transaction. A random survey for three days revealed that the e-corner near Jail Road had deposits of Rs.24 lakh and withdrawals to the tune of Rs. 20 lakh.

Sources said the number of visitors is growing day-by-day particularly because other branch customers can also make remittances in the cash deposit machine without any transaction fee.

A city-based entrepreneur V.V. Narasimha Naidu, who frequents the e-corner at MVP Colony, said the ‘user-friendly’ concept has turned into a big hit. “Instead of spending amount in a cybercafe, online bill payments here is quite easy,” he said.

Andhra Bank’s Navshakti branch has three zones viz. banking, relationship and transaction zones. It also has facilities for bunch note acceptor/cash deposit machine to accept 200 pieces of Rs.50 and above denominations at a time. A receipt is given instantaneously. Canara Bank was the first to get off the mark in the city with its e-banking facility at Akkayyapalem.